Where I Want To Live

[sparr]

For years now people have been telling me that I should be trying to join an existing intentional community aligned with my goals and values, instead of or before trying to start my own again. I would actually love to be able to spend more of my time on things other than instigating and maintaining such a community. To that end, here’s a description of the environment in which I want to spend the next 5-20 years of my life:

• Many of us have an ownership stake, having dedicated significant effort and/or financial resources to the establishment and continued existence of the community and its physical presence.

• Most of us share at least most decision making authority about the direction of the community, within long term bounds which change much more slowly.

• We enforce our rules internally with low tolerance for community goals being derailed by misbehavior.

• We have a variety of large scale common amenities, particularly including well equipped workshop space, high ceiling and high seating capacity event spaces, acres of available land for growing food, and sporting or other recreational facilities.

• We prioritize enabling participants to earn a living using the common amenities, individually or in groups, such as by running home businesses or hosting paid educational events.

• We host a wide variety of events, including educational, artistic, camping, musical, and adult oriented activities, on weekly to yearly cadences.

• We share a significant amount of grocery purchasing and meal prep, and at least some common dining time.

• We regularly have friends and family visitors for hours to days at a time.

• We regularly cross pollinate with a major city event and social scene, either by being within convenient driving or transit distance or having frequent day and weekend trip carpools.

If you know of such a place and think I’d be a good fit, please point me in the right direction, or put me in touch with the right people. If not, I’ll keep trying to build it myself. Estate of Mind was a big step in the right direction, and CoDwell promises to be even closer to the mark. Most of you reading this will be welcome to join me in those future endeavors.

Comments

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>For years now people have been telling me that I should be trying to join an existing intentional community aligned with my goals and values, instead of or before trying to start my own again.<<

These two paths are equally valid.

>>Many of us have an ownership stake, having dedicated significant effort and/or financial resources to the establishment and continued existence of the community and its physical presence.<<

Some communities require equal financial commitment. Some require equal work commitment. Many are mixed, so members can choose what works for them. And what works best depends on the mix of people you happen to get. If you've got a brilliant carpenter, it's kind of a waste to demand cash when you could be capitalizing on their ability to make things. If everyone is employed, balancing cash is often easier than hacking about with all different contributions. What matters is that everyone pitches in an equivalent amount of effort.

>>Most of us share at least most decision making authority about the direction of the community, within long term bounds which change much more slowly.<<

My go-to reference is Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making. However, I've seen great success with situational authority, where different people take charge of different things.

>>We enforce our rules internally with low tolerance for community goals being derailed by misbehavior.<<

That one's going to be challenging. Most people who excel at following rules can find a place in the mainstream, and most people who want to live in community are somehow a poor fit for the mainstream. Same thing happens in Pagan communities.

>>We have a variety of large scale common amenities, particularly including well equipped workshop space, high ceiling and high seating capacity event spaces, acres of available land for growing food, and sporting or other recreational facilities.<<

That sounds lovely.

>>We prioritize enabling participants to earn a living using the common amenities, individually or in groups, such as by running home businesses or hosting paid educational events.<<

Some communities have a group business that everyone works in, but if that's your only income stream, it leaves you vulnerable if the market dips. Others expect everyone to have their own jobs, which isn't great for cohesion or if someone loses a job. Often communities aim for a mix of income streams so that members have several options to choose from if they want to join the group effort. And artist colonies tend toward more individual businesses, although some of those do still have a community gallery to sell through.

>>We host a wide variety of events, including educational, artistic, camping, musical, and adult oriented activities, on weekly to yearly cadences.<<

Fun.

>>We share a significant amount of grocery purchasing and meal prep, and at least some common dining time.<<

That'll save a ton of money.

>>We regularly have friends and family visitors for hours to days at a time.<<

You'll need guest space, and that means choosing whether you want bigger individual houses or some dedicated guest rooms.

>>We regularly cross pollinate with a major city event and social scene, either by being within convenient driving or transit distance or having frequent day and weekend trip carpools.<<

I've seen some local towns with truly brilliant promotional materials. But the cream of the crop is Effingham whose newspaper puts out multiple magazines for local interest. A Day Away lists attractions and events from all over central Illinois. Just organizing a list of local things to do is a huge help.

Re: Thoughts

[sparr]

> Some communities have a group business that everyone works in, but if that's your only income stream, it leaves you vulnerable if the market dips.

My plan for CoDwell (http://CoDwell.org) would end up hosting 5-10 different businesses, with probably half of the resident members contributing and earning from one or more of them. Last time I had people on board for this project, everyone who signed up to run one of the sub-communities ("pods") already had at least one business plan for their pod. A lot of my more recent plans involve educational efforts where students would pay for classes, but there are also a lot of productive businesses like making food and furniture, and logistical things like event organization and hosting.

> You'll need guest space, and that means choosing whether you want bigger individual houses or some dedicated guest rooms.

My current place, which is sadly now defunct, had two guest bunk rooms and a few guest single bedrooms. I anticipate whatever I do next will be similar, unless I'm in a much bigger meta-community in which case we'd probably share guest accommodations (e.g. dorm rooms).

> Most people who excel at following rules can find a place in the mainstream

In my experience this is very much not true. I find that people who can find places in the mainstream have very little idea of what it means to commit to following rules, or be held accountable when "small" rules are broken.

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>My plan for CoDwell (http://CoDwell.org) would end up hosting 5-10 different businesses, with probably half of the resident members contributing and earning from one or more of them.<<

That sounds great.

>> Last time I had people on board for this project, everyone who signed up to run one of the sub-communities ("pods") already had at least one business plan for their pod. <<

I've noticed a lot of communities use "pod" for work groups of various kinds.

>> A lot of my more recent plans involve educational efforts where students would pay for classes, <<

That needs a large population base of potential students nearby, unless some of the classes will be available online.

>> but there are also a lot of productive businesses like making food and furniture, and logistical things like event organization and hosting.<<

Those all sound promising too.

>>My current place, which is sadly now defunct, had two guest bunk rooms and a few guest single bedrooms.<<

Good idea. Some folks are comfortable sharing a room, others need a door that locks for various reasons.

>>In my experience this is very much not true. I find that people who can find places in the mainstream have very little idea of what it means to commit to following rules, or be held accountable when "small" rules are broken.<<

Fascinating. We have had very different experiences.